Investment from US to Vietnam likely to reach US $8 billion in 2007
US Ambassador to Vietnam Michael Marine has forecasted that foreign investment from the US to Vietnam will probably double to US $8 billion in 2007, up from US $4 billion in 2006.
He told reporters in Hanoi on December 13 that in 2006, investment from the US to Vietnam reached US $4 billion. US businesses will start to implement three or four major projects in Vietnam next year. If this happens, the US’s investment in the country will reach US $8 billion.
He also said that most of businessmen from the US, Vietnam and other countries, who had taken part in the Vietnam Business Forum in Hanoi on December 13, were optimistic about the prospect of their investment in Vietnam.
“2007 and the time after 2007 will be a very good time for Vietnam to attract more FDI. However, this will not be the case unless Vietnam continues its economic reform,” Marine stressed.
Regarding bilateral relations between the two countries, Ambassador Marine said that the US considered Vietnam as not only a good partner in trade and investment, but also in strategic and political issues.
According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment, by last month, the US had 305 investment projects in Vietnam, with a combined registered capital of US $2.1 billion and an estimated disbursement of US $730 million. The US was ranked 9th among the 75 countries and territories that have invested in Vietnam.
Seventy four other projects in Vietnam, capitalised at about US $2.4 billion, were invested by US businesses via third countries.
If combining direct investment from the US and its indirect investment through third countries, the total investment from the US to Vietnam reaches US $4.4 billion, and the US becomes Vietnam’s fifth largest foreign investor. (VNA)
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